


Take Out.

by DiscordiaVonSin



Category: Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Assassins & Hitmen, F/M, Rating will change, based on a tweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-06-25 08:43:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15637224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiscordiaVonSin/pseuds/DiscordiaVonSin
Summary: “Can you help me?” She tried again, a little stronger this time.“Do you need help getting home? Is that it? You’re lost?”She shook her head. “I need you to kill someone for me.”Silence.“Kid, you have some weird notions of what you can and can’t ask people to do for you. That shit- that stuff’s illegal, you can’t go around saying things like tha-”“I’ve seen you.” She stops him with those three words. “I’ve seen you. That parade in Dathomir? You killed that man.”***Based on that one tweet by @the_omega_sin on twitter that was circulating on tumblr that says: "I love that "take out" means food, dating, and murder."Obviously, I had to Reylo it. Enjoy.





	1. Target Acquired

**Author's Note:**

> There will be no underage stuff in this story, but the rating will change at about chapter 4, when Rey's grown up a little ;). 
> 
> Un-beta'd. Any and all mistakes are mine. Enjoy.
> 
> Based on [this](https://twitter.com/the_omega_sin/status/971262591925440512)

The air was bitingly cold. 

He didn’t mind. 

Ben blew out a breath and watched as it fogged up in front of him. He stalked through the park, curling and uncurling his gloved fists to keep his circulation going.

He liked it here at this hour.

Parks in better areas like Alderaan were too well lit at night, and areas like Jakku had druggies galore, so his go-to was one of the better parks in Hoth district (which, wasn’t saying much, honestly), it had no street lamps and was always deserted at 2am, which was his preferred time for his little traipses.

When he wasn’t working a job, that is.

He made a beeline for the swings at the playground, stopping sharply in his tracks as he saw the pair of them already swaying slightly in stark contrast to the dead silence of the night - there was no breeze, and the leaves overhead were silent. He took a step further, moonlight not quite bright enough that he could easily confirm that there was no one around.

_“Papa, there’s ghosts in the house!” 5 year old Ben cried, running to hide behind his father’s legs._

_Han Solo laughed easily, picking up his young son. “Kid, there’s no such thing as ghosts. Besides, there’s way worse out there.”_

Like people, Ben had come to learn. People were the fucking _worst_ \- 

“Hi.” A little voice offered.

Ben tensed as a figure peeked out from behind a large plastic slide.

“… Hi.”

He watched as a girl no more than nine stepped out from behind the slide, hands in pockets, _she’s wearing way too little for this weather_ -

“Can… can you help me?”

“… That depends, kid. Isn’t it… ” He sighed. The concept of “bedtime” hadn’t really existed in his mess of a family. “Isn’t it well past your bedtime? Your parents must be very worried about you, do they know you’re out?”

She stared up at him, having made her way closer, half her face still shrouded in the shadow cast by the trees.

“I don’t have any.”

“… You mean, you don’t have a bedtime?”

“Parents. I don’t have any.”

“… Oh.” _Oh_.

“Can you help me?” She tried again, a little stronger this time.

“Do you need help getting home? Is that it? You’re lost?”

She shook her head. “I need you to kill someone for me.”

Silence.

“Kid, you have some weird notions of what you can and can’t ask people to do for you. That shit- that stuff’s illegal, you can’t go around saying things like tha-”

“I’ve seen you.” She stops him with those three words. “I’ve seen you. That parade in Dathomir? You killed that man.”

Yes, the senator had perished at his hands - but how had she seen him?! “I have no idea what you’re-”

“And that slaughter at the brothel. Down in Coruscant.” She spoke to his feet. “I saw you leave the whore house. I was in the alley.”

_Why the hell was this kid in the fucking alley behind a whore house?!_ “Why the hell were you - that alley was _empty_ \- ”

“It _was_ you.” She cut in, triumphant.

He cursed darkly under his breath.

“Yeah, so what if it was?” Ben shot back. “I don’t just go around killing anyone, kid, you need to scram, okay? Go home to your pare- just go home, kid.”

“I can’t.” She said, bitterness colouring her voice, twisting the childlike quality into something mature beyond her years. 

“Well, why the fu- why not?”

“I need you to kill my guardian,” she held up a photo of a portly, unpleasant individual - _was that a mugshot?!_ \- scowling at the camera. She stared straight at him, the amber gaze piercing his soul. It was then that the bruises on her face were thrown into sharp relief, her cheek a mottled mess of purples and greens as she lifted her chin in determination. “He’s planning to sell me to… to one of the whore houses in the city. Please,” her voice broke on the last word. “Please, sir, I have money.” She thrust out her other arm at him, wadded up bills stuffed in her ungloved fist.

In that split second, his decision was made.

“Keep your money.”

As if in slow motion, the tears in her right eye spilled over, a thin sliver of silver caught in the shine of the moon. “Please, I’ve been looking for you for so long. Please help me.” She swayed on the spot and Ben panicked, catching her slim frame just in time as her knees gave way.

“Hey! Hey, relax, kid!” He snapped as he shook her shoulders slightly, though not out of anger. 

… He wasn’t used to this feeling. He couldn’t name it.

He sighed. “Sorry.” That was a word that was rusty from the lack of use. He cleared his throat as he knelt down so he was closer to her eye-level. “I meant to say, keep your money; I’ll do it for free.”

“I can’t not pay you!” She whispered furiously, agitation apparent in the way she fisted the bills and shook them in front of him. “It’s a fair trade!”

Ben snorted. It was actually an impressive amount for a kid to scrounge up or swindle - the fucker in the photo didn’t exactly look like the type to give an allowance - but he didn’t need to break it to her that he was usually paid five to six figure sums for his hits. “Just… you need it more than I do, kid, keep it, okay? You can pay me back by keeping your mouth shut.”

She nodded solemnly. “I’m very good at that.”

“This piece of shit.” Ben nodded to the picture in her hand, now back at her side. “What’s his name?”

“Unkar Plutt. He owns the - ”

“Jakku Salvage Yard.” He finished for her. “I’m familiar.”

She nodded again. 

“The alley behind the brothel,” Ben begins, dropping his arms from her shoulders, slowly unravelling his scarf, “where you there because…”

“He tried to sell me? Yes. They didn’t take children.”

“They took stowaways. Specialised in cross-border trafficking- ” Probably not something he should be telling a child. He sighed, wrapping his scarf around her instead of continuing. She didn’t protest, instead breathing in deeply and clutching at the heavy fabric.

“Thank you.”

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” He said by way of an answer.

“Rey.”

“Rey…?”

“Just Rey.”

Ben’s lip twitched. _This is the perfect opportunity, she’s got the right accent_ … “Well, _Just Rey_ , you’re a wizard.”

“Wait, what? I’m a what?” She wrinkled her nose, not getting the reference.

Ben shook his head, chuckling. “Nevermind. I’ll explain some other time. I’m Ben.” He raised an eyebrow. “I’m assuming you don’t have anyone or anywhere to go tonight?”

“I’m all alone. I was planning to just… stay here.”

Ben barked a short laugh. “And what, freeze your ass off?” He sobered quickly. “You’re coming with me, okay?”

Her bottom lip - _also bruised, I’m going to enjoy pummelling that_ ** _fucker’s_** _face in_ \- quivers, before she breaks into a watery but brilliant smile. “Okay.”

“You’re not alone, kid.”

She looks at him, smile dimming somewhat as amber bore into brown, searching. “Neither are you.” 

 

***

 

She told him she was twelve. _Twelve_. She told him a few other things, over a bowl of Thai takeout that she had ravenously wolfed down, before collapsing on his couch. Plutt wasn’t legally her guardian; she wasn’t even in the system. Rey had been born out of wedlock and her parents never bothered to register her birth. They had sold her to Plutt seven years ago for drinking money, and perished a year after in a car accident - the cars in the wreck had been sent straight to Plutt’s Salvage yard, the interior still bloody. 

Plutt had never sent her to school, instead keeping her at the Salvage Yard, taking advantage of her small frame for crawling into machinery and retrieving or fixing parts he couldn’t reach. _Thank the maker he hadn’t taken advantage of her in other ways_ , Ben thought darkly to himself. She got fed on good days and beaten on bad ones, but judging from the bruises she currently sported, along with some other more faded marks, and the fact that he had assumed she was much younger than her twelve years, she probably had more bad than good.

Ben took a sip of the whiskey he had poured himself, scowling down at the picture she had given him. _Soon_. He looked at the clock that read “4:10am”. _Soon_. He’d do this properly, so that no questions would be asked, and no trace of Rey ever living with Plutt would be found.

_Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to_.

He’d kill her past, and help her find a better future.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shitty "Well, Just Rey" joke comes from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKNhPpUR0Pg
> 
> ... sorry not sorry. If you've read my work "Christmas Morning", you'll know I love memes.
> 
> Come talk to me/let me know what you thought/let me know what you'd like to see at http://chaos-in-harmony.tumblr.com/


	2. The Protector

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very, very sorry for the late update, I had a buttfucktonne of assignments due.
> 
> I am a shitty person.
> 
> However! To make up for that, chapter three will be posted tomorrow.
> 
> It's not really proof-read at this point but rest assured I will be fixing it and cursing up a storm at myself while I do so very soon.
> 
> Enjoy.

#1

Rey: 13

Ben: 23

Shouldering her rucksack, Rey knocked on the door. She turned around and waved at Maz, who waved back at her from the car. “Have fun honey! I’ll pick you up tomorrow after breakfast.” She called through the rolled-down window.

“Thanks Maz!” The door opened behind her.

“Is someone there?” Came a voice from above her. 

Rey giggled. “You can see me, Mr Solo.”

Han Solo swivelled his head left and right, frowning. “Who said that?” Finally, he looked down, smirking down at her. “Oh, there you are, kid. I didn’t see you there. Oof!” He caught her as she launched herself at his midriff and squeezed. “Getting real strong there kid, those kickboxing classes are definitely paying off. Still short, though.” He said dryly as he patted her back. “Let’s get inside, you must be hungry.”

“Always!” She trotted after him, following the smell of glorious food. “You cooked?”

Han snorted inelegantly. “Me? I tried. Maker knows I’m the least likely to poison the family with my cooking. But no, it’s takeout. Because _someone_ ,” he paused meaningfully, voice growing louder, “someone fucked up big time when they somehow let the pasta burn. _Ben_.” 

Rey squealed as she was lifted from behind. Up and up she went until she found herself perched on the right shoulder of Ben Solo, who was grimacing at his father in front of them. 

“ _Alright_ , dad, give it a rest. Hux called about a job and I got distracted. What’s up, kid.” He grinned up at her as his father muttered something about _you can take out twenty men in unarmed combat but you can’t fucking boil pasta_.

“Me. I’m up. Since you lifted me up here.”

“Not for long.” He let her drop and she screeched as she felt her stomach jolt, but he caught her before she hit the floor. 

She whooped. “Again!”

He sighed. “Slave driver.”

 

*** 

 

#2

Rey: 14

Ben: 24

“Rey, darling, you have a visitor!”

“BEN!” Rey howled, barrelling out of her room and zooming into the living room, affronting BB8 who yowled dispassionately and shimmied out of her way to avoid getting trampled.

She slammed into him - it was unfair, she was winded from the contact but somehow he was as still and solid as ever. He clutched her to his side, signature lopsided grin - _he looks exactly like Han when he does that_ \- hanging from the side of his mouth. 

“Slow down, sweetheart, I’m not going anywhere. It’s good to see you too.”

“You kids enjoy yourselves,” Maz called at the door, “don’t let her stay up too late, Ben.”

“Don’t worry Maz,” Ben called reassuringly, winking at Rey, who stifled a giggle, “I’ll make sure she’s in bed by eleven.”

“Ten thirty!” Maz’s muffled voice floated towards them, “and not a minute more. Love you, honey!”

“Love you too, Maz!” Rey called back, grinning at Ben.

The door slammed.

“So.” Ben smiled back lightly. “You wanna try cooking?”

“With Ben-I-Somehow-Burn-Pasta-Solo? That’s a no from me.” She deadpanned in her best Simon Cowell impression.

“Firstly, that’s Ben-I-Somehow-Burn-Pasta-Chewbacca-Organa-Skywalker-Solo to you,” he snarked. “And secondly, I’m very proud to say that I’ve managed to make dinner twice now for Han and Leia, and no one’s died… Yet. Hm. Shall we order Thai?”

“Er… Pizza?”

“How ‘bout both?”

“Both?” Rey frowned. “That’s a little overkill, don’t you think?”

Ben shrugged. “Anything for you, princess.”

Rey tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Both it is.”

 

***

 

She fell promptly asleep on the couch at ten fourteen with _The Matrix_ playing on the TV. He turned the volume down, listening to her even breathing for a while before poking her awake.

“Hm…?”

“Let’s get you to bed, alright?”

“But I’m not t-t-tired.” A large yawn interrupted her last word.

“And I’m engaged to Hux.” She chuckled at that, rubbing her eyes. “C’mon. Go brush your teeth.”

“Alriiiiiiight.” She slid off the couch onto the floor with a groan, before picking her lean frame up, stepping over his legs and padding over to her room.

 

***

 

He was in the middle of cleaning up the living room when Maz came home, shaking her head at the leftover food boxes.

“You’ll spoil her like that, Ben Solo.”

He shrugged. “She deserves it. Besides, you’ll keep her on the straight and narrow. You half raised me, didn’t you?”

“And look what happened to you,” Maz cackled, jabbing his side.

“Hey!”

 

***

 

#3

Rey: 16

Ben: 26

 

**_From: Han Solo_ **

**13:08.** _He’s in surgery. Job went awry._

**13:09.** _Coruscant Hospital._

 

The eight little words on her screen are enough to make her whole world freeze, fear lancing through her, white hot. 

“Rey?” Finn frowned at her as he set his tray down beside her. “Rey, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“I - I need to - get - I have to see - ” Somehow, she managed to stand on legs made of jelly.

“Rey, you’re scaring me, what- ”

“He - he’s in hospital,” she swallows thickly, the noise of the cafeteria drowned out by her thoughts racing a mile a minute.

“Who?”

“Ben.” The name somehow feels weird on her lips. “I’m going. Tell Ms. Holdo I felt ill and went home.”

“What? No, she’ll be a total dick about it, Rey she won’t - ”

“Never mind her, I’ll deal with it on Monday.”

“Well, okay, but how are you going to get to the hospital?”

“I- ”

“Hey, guys, what’s up? Rey, you alright? You seem upset.” Rose walked up, resting a hand on Rey’s arm.

“Ben’s in hospital.”

Rose’s easy smile slid off her face. “Your friend Ben? What happened?”

“I - I don’t know. I can’t stay to talk, I need to get to - ”

“I’ll drive you.” Rose immediately offers.

“No I - you can’t, Ms. Holdo will give you shit for it - ”

“And I don’t care,” Rose says firmly, squeezing Rey’s arm. “She can’t do anything to me, I’m topping chemistry. Finn, tell Ms. Holdo - ”

“That my best friends have balls the size of Yavin Prime and they’ll face her wrath on Monday. Gotcha.”

“Aw, I’ll be able to make it back in time for the second half of class. Rey, let’s go.”

 

***

 

Rose drove like a complete mad woman and Rey loved her for it. The trip to the hospital should have taken them forty minutes but Rose made it in just under half an hour.

“You need me to pick you up later babe?”

“No it’s fine, thank you, I - ”

“Thank me later! Go, shoo!” Rey didn’t need telling twice. Shooting her friend a grateful smile, she scrambled out of the car and into the hospital.

 

***

 

“Hi, I’m looking for Ben Solo? I’m his - ” _Cousin. Sister. Girlfriend._ She frowned at the last one. _Where had_ ** _that_** _come from_? 

“Immediate family only.” The nurse said, looking bored.

“Sister. I’m his sister.” Somehow, that sounded wrong out loud. _Worse than girlfriend_ , her brain supplied unhelpfully.

The nurse sighed, rolling his eyes. “Just fill out this form - ”

“Rey!” Leia appeared from around the corner. “She’s with me.”

“Of course, Senator Organa.” The nurse turned contrite.

“How is he, Leia?” Rey whispered as Leia led her down the hall. 

“We don’t know, he’s been in there for three hours now.” Leia sighed. “I told Han not to text you, at least until - until - ” Leia sniffed, pulling Rey into a hug, “until we knew he was okay.”

Rey stroked her back and clamped her eyes shut. _Until we knew he was okay_.

The alternative was unthinkable.

She willed herself to be strong as Leia sniffled into her chest.

“He’ll be fine.” Rey’s eyes popped open at the sound of Han’s voice. Leia let go of her, throwing herself into her husband’s arms. “He’ll be fine, sweetheart.” Han repeated softly to Leia, sounding a lot more certain than he probably felt. He looked up at Rey. “I was going to get Maz to drive you over, kid, seems like that’s no longer necessary.”

“My friend Rose drove me over when I told her - told her about Ben.”

Han sighed. “I shouldn’t have texted you. ” A muffled _that’s what I said_ came from his wife, and the corner of his mouth twitched briefly.

“I’m glad you did.” Rey said. “I couldn’t bear not - not knowing if - if-” words failed her then.

“Hey, it’s okay, kid. He’ll be okay.” Han looked older then than she had ever seen. “He’s.. he been shot. How he’s gone so far in our line without getting - getting - well, it was only a matter of time.” He sighs. “It’ll be okay, kid. He’s a tough little shit.”

Rey let out a strangled noise. _Shot_. Her best friend…

“Let’s sit down, okay?”

 

***

 

Ben Solo was in fact, one tough little shit.

He was also a lucky little shit, because the surgeons who wheeled him out after 6 hours of surgery said he’d likely make a full recovery despite the two bullet wounds, internal bleeding, and two cracked ribs.

“Oh thank the maker.” Han’s face crumpled then as he buried his face in his hands, turning away and taking a moment to compose himself.

Leia, surprisingly, was completely composed. “And I trust the team will be very… discrete?”

The doctor nodded seriously. “The medical staff have been briefed, Senator Organa,” she replied in a professional tone, checking her data pad. “His case is being handled under the name "Kylo Ren" - a certain Gwen Phasma has been in touch - so, as far anyone is concerned, the son of Senator Organa doesn’t even have a file here in Coruscant Hospital.”

The senator nodded. “Thank you, Dr. Erso.”

 

***

 

She doesn’t remember falling asleep in the hospital chair, but when she wakes with a start she’s aware that Han and Leia are not there with her and that the sun must have set hours ago - and what was that noise -

“Hey kid.”

She’s out of her chair at once. “Ben - ” 

He smiles weakly at her from the bed and she crosses to him, grasping the hand he holds out to her, but not too tightly -

“I was so scared.” She realises that the small voice was her own. “I thought… I thought you… ”

“Hey. Hey.” His voice is lower than it usually is, raspy with disuse. “I’m here.” He cradles her to his good shoulder, and she takes special care to put no weight on his torso, tears darkening his blue hospital gown as she grasps his IV-free arm like a lifeline. She breathes him in, he smells sort of - _wrong_ \- like whatever chemical they use to sterilise the place, but the obsidian locks of hair that splay across his pillow smell exactly as he's supposed to.

“Don’t leave me.”

“Never. Sweetheart, I would never.”

She pulls back, opening her mouth to tell him - _tell him what, exactly_? Her thoughts run blank. “I…” She trails off, biting her lip, suddenly feeling very warm.

Ben looked at her curiously. “A penny for your thoughts?”

“I - ”

“Ben!” Leia exclaims, bursting into the room. Rey dropped his hand like a hot iron as Han, Luke, Chewie, and a nurse entered the room hot on Leia’s heels. “They were giving Uncle Luke problems at the desk, we had to get him in, he flew down on the first available flight…”

Rey moved back to allow his family some space and the nurse to check his vitals, pulling out her phone to text Maz and Rose updates.

 

**_To: Maz Kanata_ **

**20:19.** _Ben’s okay - he just woke up_

**_From: Maz Kanata_**

**20:22.** _Good to hear. I’ll swing by to visit, and we can go home together._

**_To: Maz Kanata_**

**20:23.** _Sounds good_

 

**_To: Rose Tico_ **

**20:23.** _Hey babe, thanks again for the ride - Ben just woke up from his surgery. Did Holdo give you shit?_

**_From: Rose Tico_**

**20:24.** _That’s awesome! No worries xx. Yeah I was forty minutes late and she asked me where I’d been, I told her I got lost otw to class LOL._

 

Rey grinned and shook her head.

 

***

 

The hospital insisted on keeping him under observation for a week, but by Wednesday Ben was getting restless and had already gotten into 2 shouting matches with the hospital staff about an early discharge. Thankfully, Dr. Erso and Dr. Andor were more than capable of dealing with his temper, with Dr. Erso even managing to get an apology from the unruly patient.

 

**_From: Ben Solo_ **

**14:49.** _I feel like my brain is rotting away in this place. And the food sucks._

**_To: Ben Solo_**

**14:51.** _You’re such a baby. Be a good patient and listen for once, won’t you?_

**_From: Ben Solo_**

**14:52.** _No._

 

Rey didn’t know what she expected. She rolled her eyes.

 

**_To: Ben Solo_**

**14:55.** _I’m in my last class of the day. If you promise to take a nap now I’ll bring you a sweet treat after class._

**_From: Ben Solo_**

**14:57.** _How’s that different from any other day? You’ve been visiting me every day since my surgery._

 

Rey felt her face heat up. These were the same playful little messages he always sent her but recently she had been… thinking about him. _Differently_. She cleared her throat and made sure Mr. Akbar was writing the formula for time dilation on the board before she replied:

 

**_To: Ben Solo_ **

**14:58.** _I meant food, you arse. Go the fuck to sleep._

**_From: Ben Solo_**

**14:59.** _Wow, language!_

**_To: Ben Solo_**

**14:59.** _Hypocrite._

**_From: Ben Solo_**

**14:59.** _Touché. I’m going._

 

_***_

 

She sat on the end of his bed, kicking off her shoes. “So, guess what I got you.”

“Hmm… Doughnuts?”

She pouted. “You’re absolutely no fun at all, you’re too good at guessing.”

He grinned at her. “You’re just good at knowing exactly what I’d like.”

They shared the doughnuts, but for the life of her Rey could not tell you how they ended up smearing each other with left over chocolate and giggling like kindergarteners, freezing up guiltily when the grumpy nurse from the front desk walked by on his usual rounds.

The nurse (his name tag read K-2SO) took one glance at them, both cross-legged on Ben’s hospital bed looking as thick as thieves, sighed, and turned to leave. He stopped abruptly, turning to smile conspiratorially at Rey. “Sister, hm?”

She flushed to the roots of her hair, pretending to remember that she needed to call Maz to avoid Ben’s questioning gaze.

 

***

 

#4

Rey: 18

Ben: 28

 

“Fuck fuck fuck open a window!”

Rey rushed to comply as Ben disabled the blaring fire alarm, rushing back to the oven to turn on the overhead exhaust.

Pulling on the oven mitts, Ben removed the burnt porg from the oven and set it down sombrely on the kitchen island. They looked at the porg, then at each other. They collapsed into gales of laughter, and Rey was almost done chuckling when Ben quipped, “Bon appétit,”, which set them both off again.

“How about we try something less ambitious next time.” She said, wiping at her eyes.

“Agreed,” Ben replied, tipping the porg into the bin. He turned to face her once more. “Take out?”

“As always.”

 

***

 

Rey pushed her bowl of almost-finished Thai aside. She took a deep breath, and looked up at the man in front of her. The man who had pulled her from the depths of hell and given her a new life. Her saviour. Her best friend in this universe.

“Ben.” She said softly.

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“I want…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What does Rey want?
> 
> Eep sorry to leave you guys on a cliffhanger but hey, I'm posting the next chapter tomorrow so I'm not THAT sorry. Y'all can deal with one day.
> 
> I think porgs are cute, but I also think they'd be tasty.
> 
> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://discordiavonsin.tumblr.com/)!


	3. The Revanchist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then he was lost - drowning in the kind green eyes flecked through with gold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What DOES Rey want?
> 
> Probably not what you think.
> 
> (Well, that too, but that's not this chapter.)
> 
> Shoutout to [13oct](https://archiveofourown.org/users/13oct/pseuds/13oct) for giving me the idea for this chapter - without 13oct, this chapter wouldn't have been a thing and it'd be three chapters, not four.

“ _I want to know what you did to Plutt_.”

He sighed. She asked him that, once a year, on the anniversary of him getting her the hell out of that shit show. 

Every year he gave her the same Dumbledore-esque response of “when you’re older”.

It’s not like he hadn’t told her about his other hits - she was well aware of what he and Han did (technically, in Han’s case, _used_ to do), liking to marvel at how an assassin managed to get married to the senator of Alderaan. 

He told her, reluctantly, about the clean ones. 

The fast ones.

The ones that didn’t require him explaining just how much more some people paid for him to take the target back to where they could watch him finish them off slowly.

The ones that didn’t require him explaining that a little part of him delighted in watching them bleed, in watching them scream and beg.

Sometimes he did it for free.

Like he had done with Plutt.

Her voice cut into his thoughts. “Please, Ben. I’m eighteen. I can take it.”

He fixed his gaze on hers. _What was it in her eyes? Reverence? Hero worship? … Love?_ All he knew was that he didn’t want her to ever look at him any differently.

Even Uncle Luke never looked at him the same way again after he found out Ben had his mind set in following his father’s footsteps instead of his mother’s.

He cast his eyes to the ceiling, and started speaking.

He told her everything.

 

***

 

He flexed, adjusting his gloved grip on the bat.

Rolling his neck, he stepped around Plutt in the small chamber.

He raised the bat. 

_TAK_. 

Plutt visibly flinched at the sound echoing off the walls.

_TAK_.

He prowled the perimeter of the circular chamber, tapping the wall periodically, watching the man flinch as beads of perspiration formed on his bald head.

He circled back to the front, no longer tapping the bat but scraping it against the wall. He stopped directly in front of Plutt, and _swung_ \- 

Plutt screamed.

The bat stopped centimetres away from the man’s skull.

Ben held his form for an moment more before dropping his arm back to his side.

“You’re a fucking songbird, aren’t you?” He swung once more, and Plutt screeched, screwing his eyes shut as tears started rolling down his cheeks.

“Please! Please, please let me go, I haven’t done anything - I paid Kanjiklub everything I owed - ”

Ben swung the bat upwards, not enough to knock him out but enough to make Plutt’s teeth click together. “This isn’t about Kanjiklub.”

“Then why the fuck am I here?” A note of hysteria entered his voice, “is this about the car parts? I swear, I had no idea the machinery - ”

“This isn’t twenty fucking questions, you bastard.” Ben hissed, shutting the trembling man up.

“Please I - I have something I can give you!” Plutt’s desperate tone was coloured with something crafty. “I have a girl. Scrawny little thing, but she won’t put up much of a fight if you - ”

“Liar.”

“I - what?”

“She ran away, didn’t she.”

“How do you know? She can’t have sent _you_! How do you - ” He screeched again as Ben threw the bat so it spun right by Plutt’s right ear.

“What the fuck did I just say about questions.” Ben calmly took out the pliers from his pants pocket.

“What are those for - ” Plutt clamped his mouth shut, gulping as he eyes the tool in Ben’s hand.

“These are going to make you fucking _sing_.”

 

***

 

The apparatus kept the man’s hand spread wide as Ben removed his fingers segment by segment, sometimes using the serrated knife to saw down the bone before using the pliers to prise off each knuckle, calmly narrating each piece he removed. He used the blowtorch and flat edge of the knife to cauterise the wounds, ensuring Plutt didn’t bleed out.

That would come later.

 

***

 

He loved the feeling of the knife sinking into soft flesh.

Fat was better than muscle, and he relished the half-maddened, animalistic grunts that poured from Plutt’s mouth as he slid the knife in and out of the man’s belly as he cut a line below his ribcage, gripping the hilt of the knife harder as the blood made it difficult to keep a good grasp.

Plutt’s exhales were coming in grunting heaves now, blood pouring from his mouth and eyes rolling back in his head.

Ben reached in and carelessly rummaged around, hand buried up to his elbow. He tightened his grip as he found what he was looking for and yanked.

Plutt choked and heaved, quivering. He was fast losing consciousness.

“Hey now.” Ben stepped back. Stabbing the knife into the middle of the man’s belly (drawing another moan), he stood up straight and held Plutt’s head in a bloodied hand. “Don’t fall asleep on me before the grand finale, hmm?” Almost lovingly, he opened Plutt’s mouth and with the other hand, inserted Plutt’s gallbladder into his mouth, pinching the man’s nose shut and forcing the man’s jaw up and down as the man blubbered and choked. Ben jammed his hand into Plutt’s mouth and shoved as much down as he could, then stood aside as Plutt choked and vomited most of it back up, crying and grunting.

Like a caricature of King Arthur and Excalibur, Ben pulled the knife slowly from where it was buried in Plutt’s stomach. It came loose with a “ _snik”_.

Ben plunged the knife back into the first incision he made earlier, widening the gash and watching the innards pool out of Plutt’s stomach and onto his lap.

Throwing the knife to the floor, Ben stepped close again, reaching his hand in - under the ribs and up - plucking Plutt’s heart from the chest cavity.

“Huh. Looks like you had one of these after all.” Ben deadpanned as Plutt’s gaze rested on him one last time before he shook - and died.

Ben squeezed the organ, lobbing it at the head of the corpse, where it hit its mark with a low “ _thwack_ ”.

 

***

 

He finished the story with his eyes closed.

The silence was broken with a low, “I’m sorry.”

His eyes flew open as he met her gaze - which was completely free of judgement. “What? What for?”

“You… had to do that.”

Ben laughed bleakly. “Sweetheart. He wasn’t the first, and he wasn’t the last. Many of the jobs… They’re not clean, simple jobs like the parade in Dathomir.”

“I know. I’m just sorry you had to - and I’m sorry,” she said, pausing, swallowing and steeling her gaze, “because I wish could have done it myself.”

Ben stared at her fierce countenance. “You don’t… think I’m a monster?”

“Do you think I’m one for wanting to be the one to do it? For still wanting to find his grave to desecrate his corpse?”

“No, of course not, ” Ben scoffed immediately, “what he did to you, no one should ever have to go through - ”

“Then, thank you.” She said firmly, reaching across the table to squeeze his free hand - he realised the other was gripping the table so hard that his knuckles were white - “Thank you for taking revenge when I could not.”

He squeezed back, thanking the maker that the gaze she rested upon him was one of gratitude and - and -

“Besides.” She lowered her voice. She looked at their joined hands, and then smiled up at him sweetly. “You’re my monster.” 

And then he was lost - drowning in the kind green eyes flecked through with gold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that was drastically different to the previous chapter. Next chapter, back to fluff - and the smut that people have undoubtedly been waiting for!
> 
> Anyone catch the sort-of Inglorious Basterds reference (my fave movie ever)?
> 
> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://discordiavonsin.tumblr.com/)!


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